Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-09-24
SOUTH AMERICAN YANKEE.

American race, aggressive, auuaCious'
and arrogant, quick To perceive, quick
to resent, fierce in disposition, cold
blooded, and cruel as a cannibal. lie
dreams of conquest. He has only a
strip of country along the Pacific coast,
SO narrow that there is scarcely room
enough to write its name upon the
map. hemmed in on one side by the
eternal SHOWS that crown the Cordil-
leras and on the other by 5000 miles or
sea. He has been stretching himself
northward until he has stolen all the
sca-coast OF Bolivia, with her valuable
nitrate deposits, all the guano that be-
longed to Peru, and contcmplates
taking actual possession OF both those
republics soon. He has been reaching
southwark by diplomacy, rs he did
northward by war, and under a recent
treaty with the Argentine Republic
divided Patagonia with that nation,
taking to himself the control of that
valuable international highway, the
Strait Of Magellan, the u%neXplored
country between the Andes and the
ocean, and thousands of islands along
the Pacific coast, whose resources are
unknown. BY securing the strait,
Chill acquired control of steam nayi-
CATION in the South Pacific, and has es-
tsblishcd a colony and fortress 1T
Punta Arenas, by which all vessels
must pass. Reposing TRANQUILITY now
in the enjoyment Of the newly acquired
territory along the Bolivian and Pc
ruvian border, and deriving an enor-
nous revenue from the export tax up
on nitrate, the Chillano coptemplates
the internal discussions of Peru, and,
waits anxiously for the time when he
i can step in as arbitrator, and. like the
LAWYER, take the estate that the heirs
are silly enough to quarrel over. 1t is
but n question Of years when not only
Peru, but Bolivia, Will become II part
of Chill, and the aggressive nation
will want to push her eastern boundary
back of the Andes, and secure control
of the sources of the Amazon, as she
has of the navigation of the strait.
The Chillanos lead the Southern
continent, and are the most powerful
of all the republics in America except
our own. Their statesmen are wise
and able, their people are Industrious
and progressive. and have that strength
of mind and muscle which is given
only to the men OF temperate zones.
There is Il strong similarity between
the Chillanos and tho Irish. Both have
the same wit and reckless c0urage,
the same love OF country and patriotic
pride. Wherever Il ChilianO gocs ne
carries his opinion tGat there never
was and never can be 4 better land
than that in watch he was born; and
although he may be = refugee or an
exile he will fight in defence of Chill
at the drop OF the hat. There is some
thing refreshing in his patriotism,
even if 1t be tAe most arrogant vanity.
Our people are becoming ashamed of
their Fourth OF July, and the Declara-
ton OF Independence is the butt Of
professional jokers. The Chillano will
cut the throat of "A man who will not
celebrate with him the 18th of Sep
TENDER, his Independence Day, and
there is a law in the country requiring
every house to have 4 flagstaff, to bear
the national colorS on n banner by
day and a lantern by night, on the
anniversaries of the republic. All the
schools must use textbooks by native
authors, all the bands play the com
positions of the native composers, and
visiting opera and concert singers have
to vary their performances by intro
ducing the songs of the country. 1t is
said that Il FrenclIman can never be
d~enationalized. The same is true of
the Chillano. There has not been a
successful revolution in Chill since
: 1889, and although there is nowhere u
t more unruly and discordant people.
nowhere more murders and other
:, serious crimes, in their love OF country
the naughty Don and the patient peon,
the hunted bandit and the cruel soldier
/ are one.
AS IA soldier the Chillano is brave to
reckiessneSs, and "A sense of fear is I'M
known 70 him. He will not endure a
/ siege, nor can he be made to fight at
long range; but as soon as he sees the
enemy he fires one vollcy, drops his
gun, and rushes in with his ''curvo."
1 His endurance is as great as his
courage, and no North American
Q Indian can travel so far without rest
or go so long without food or water as
the Chillano pcon "Roto," as the mixed
, race is called. AS the ''Cholo' in
Peru is the descendant of the Spaniards
t and the %lncas, so is the ''Roto' in
l Chill the child of the Spaniard and the
= A~raucanian Indians, the race of giants
with which the early explorer. report
, wv lhdb dtiEohlt was DUtl1Ch--
9 ''menne of that bigincss," a. Sir
+ Francis Drake reported, 'tbat it
seemed the trees of the forests were
| %nprooted and were moving away"
They have the Spanish tenacity OF pur-
4 pose, the Indian endurance, and the
o cruelty Of both. Each sold er, in the
| mountains or the desert, carries on his
breast two buckskin bags. In one are
( the leaves of the coca plant, in the
5 other powdered line made of the ashes
: of potato skins. The coca is the
: strongest sort of a tonic, and by
4 chewing it the Chillauo soldier can
: abstain from food or drink for a
: week or ten days ut Il stretch. The
4 Chillano soldier is not easily subjected
: to discipline, and ourvandals the
{ vandals III the destruction of property,
/, as the present condition of Peru will
l prove. He burns and destroys every
y thing in his reach that has sheltered
o an enemy. No authority Il restrain
his hand. The awful scenes of dc,as-
: tation that took place in Peru have
r nothing to parallel them in the annals
OF modern warfare. On the battle